Methods and apparatus for conserving soap



March 21, 1961 R. H. WENDT METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR CONSERVING SOAP Filed Dec. 12, 1958 United States Patent METHODS AND APPASR01IPUS FOR CONSERVING Robert H. Wendt, Evanston, Ill. (7567 Lincoln Ave., Skokie, Ill.)

Filed Dec. 12, 1958, Ser. No. 779,990

2 Claims. (Cl. 18-55) The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for conserving soap, and is particularly concerned with the conservation of the more expensive types of soap, such as toilet soap.

In the use of toilet soap the bar of soap becomes gradually worn down by use until it is a mere sliver, which is apt to become dried out and to break into even smaller pieces and is likely to be thrown away.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of improved apparatus for storing, preserving, molding, supporting, and utilizing such slivers of toilet soap.

Another object of the invention is the provision of improved apparatus for molding semi-plastic soap by means of which such a high unit pressure may be placed upon the slivers of soap combined with some water that they may be caused to fill all of the parts of a mold for shaping a large bar of such soap into a relatively perfect =bar except for the fact that it has a longitudinally extending aperture in one end, the aperture being of the size of a sliver of soap so that it may be filled, if desired.

Another object of the invention is the provision of improved apparatus for molding soap under high pressure which permits the application of especially high pressure by means of impact upon a suitable thin tapered core having a very small cross-sectional area, and the provision of an improved mold for bars of soap in which the slivers of soap may be stored until sufficient soap is accumulated to form a bar, and in which the soap may be continuously and successively thrust aside by a plunger to make room for additional slivers of soap until the mold has become full, and pressure is exerted downward laterally and upward, shaping all of the sides and ends of a bar of soap, except for an aperture in one end which is the size of a sliver of soap.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved impact plunger for intrusion into a body of soap, the plunger having a small cross-sectional area for further insertion, pressing the contents of the mold outward, upward, and downward in all directions under high unit pressure by the impact of a hammer or other article on the exposed end of the core to form a rela tively perfect bar of soap with a longitudinal aperture in one end that can be filled with a sliver of soap after removal of the plunger.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the single sheet of drawings accompanying the specification,

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a soap conserving and molding apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view taken from the left side of Fig. 4;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the pressure plunger used to support a bar of soap;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line -6-6 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to Figs. 1-3, 10 indicates in its entirety the apparatus which comprises a mold of suitable metal or rnoidable plastic which is adapted to be water-tight and adapted to withstand pressure in pounds per square inch of suitable amount.

The mold comprises a pair of identical halves which are substantially rectangular in form and identical in shape, each half 11 and 12 being provided with a plane bottom surface 13 adapted to form a stable support on a table, sink, or the like. Each mold half has a fiat side 14 and a second fiat side 15, a fiat end surface 16, and its outer side is curved at 1'7 like a giant bar of toilet soap, leaving a groove 18 all around the curved formation 17, which conforms to the inner half cavity 19 by providing a wall of uniform thickness outside the cavity 19.

For reinforcing the sides 14, 15, 16, and 13 all have rearwardly projecting edges or ribs 20, 21, 22, 23, forming a rectangular reinforcing frame for projecting outwardly. The ribs 20, 21, 22 are of equal depth; but the rib 23 projects outward further at the bottom to increase the stability of the bottom 13.

The inner face 24 or 25 of each half surrounding the soap bar cavities 19 are perfectly plane and ground to a watertight fit; and the upper wall or end 16 has a narrow oval aperture 26, forming an opening for the insertion of soap slivers or shreds of soap.

The two halves of the mold are held together by through bolts 27 and 28 at the opposite corners, where the space between the flanges 20, 22, 21, and 23 is provided with a fillet 29 or 30, providing suflicient body for the bolt aperture and for permitting the wing nuts 31 to be rotated.

By providing two headed bolts at the opposite corners of the mold the two mold halves are tightly clamped together to hold liquid soap or water or pieces of soap. This mold may be placed upon the sink, table, or window sill, and may receive slivers of soap as fast as the soap is being used up.

A small amount, such as a few tablespoons, of water should be placed in the mold cavity to soften the soap; and the best bars are made when the soap is all homogeneous, that is, all made from slivers of the same kind of soap, because they adhere together more tightly.

The plastic of which the mold is made may be transparent; and various colored slivers may be employed; and when they have been compressed into a bar of soap, they present a variegated and ornamental appearance, which is visible through the transparent wall.

Various types of plastics may be employed, such as cellulose acetate, polyethylene, vinyl-chloride acetate, or methyl methacrylate.

Referring to Fig. 5, this is a side elevational view of a soap compressing plunger, which may be formed of the same material, metal or plastic, as the mold. This plunger includes. an elongated, thin, oval bar 32 of the shape of a sliver of soap and tapered toward its lower pointed end 33.

The bar 32 is purposely of small cross-sectional area so that a thrust on the end of the plunger will result in a high pressure per pounds per square inch. For example, the bar may be one inch wide and one-fourth inch thick, having a cross-sectional area of one-fourth Patented. Mar. 21,. 1961 3 square inch. One hundred pounds exerted on the end will thus result in one hundred over one-fourth, or four hundred pounds per square inch.

The plunger body 32 is supported by a relatively larger oval body 34 adapted to fit in the oval aperture 26 and to slide therein, the lower corners 35 serving to trap the soap in the cavity when the lower corners 35 engage the upper corners 36 of aperture 26.

The body 34 of the plunger carries an upper knob 37 inwardly curved at 38 on all sides and forming a sphere with a fiat upper impact surface 39 to be engaged by hammer 40.

As shown in Fig. 5, the surface 39 may constitute a stable support for supporting the plunger in inverted position, when it may also carry a bar of soap.

The mold is used as a receptacle for slivers of soap, which are placed in the container or mold 19; and then the plunger is replaced, after putting in a tablespoon of Water from time to time. This softens the soap; and the cover body 34 closes the upper end, preventing the soap from drying out.

Each time the plunger is replaced after putting in one or more slivers of soap, the narrow tapered plunger shoves aside the soap in the cavity, making room for the next slivers of soap to be inserted. Eventually the cavity becomes so full that the plunger is operating with a force of hundreds of pounds to the square inch on the soap in the nearly full cavity.

When the cavity becomes nearly full, the soap is pushed not only downward and outward, but upward against the upper wall 41 of the cavity, forming a perfect bar of soap on all sides when the cavity is full, which will be evidenced by the fact that it is difficult to insert the plunger.

An impact on the end surface 39 of the plunger with the hammer 40 will increase the internal pressure of the plastic soap to such an extent that a firm, hard, perfectly formed bar of soap is formed out of the slivers and other particles of soap, Which are amalgamated into a homogeneous mass, though it may be of many colors and types of soap, under heavy pressure.

The Wing nuts 31 may then be removed and the two halves of the mold may be separated, releasing the plunger and the bar of soap. The soap may be supported in a dry condition on the end of the plunger with the plunger inverted, as shown in Fig. 5.

The soap does not adhere to the plastic because of the lubricating characteristic of such plastics. Thus a multiplicity of slivers of soap of an expensive type may be molded into a single new bar, conserving the soap and making it usable.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. The method of making a bar of soap out of used soap slivers which comprises providing a rigid mold of two halves having a cavity the shape of the bar desired and having an end aperture in one end wall of the size and shape of a sliver of used soap, supporting the mold at its other end, depositing slivers of used soap in said cavity with a limited amount of water to moisten the used soap, maintaining the soap in a moist condition by closing the said aperture between the deposits of soap with a sliding closure plug in said aperture, driving the deposited soap laterally from the space beneath said aperture with a plunger having the shape of a sliver of soap and carried by said plug to provide space for receiving the next deposit of soap until the plunger cannot be inserted by hand, thereafter subjecting the said plunger on its outer end to impact, to provide the high unit pressure per square inch needed to drive the soap into all parts of the mold, and driving the plunger and plug into said aperture to such a point that the plug entraps the soap while the plunger forms a full bar of soap except for the aperture in the bar containing the'plunger, removing the plunger and inserting a sliver of soap to fill the cavity in the bar to provide a new bar of used soap.

2. A combined soap fragment accumulator and mold, comprising a pair of rigid mold halves of substantially rectangular shape in elevation, each mold halt having a peripheral rectangular frame integrally joined to a central molding portion which has a soap bar half cavity on its inner side and a convex surface on its outer side, the said cavity being vertically elongated, and having an upper opening of oval shape adapted to receive a sliver of soap, means for securing the two mold halves together to form a watertight container for storing soap slivers and a small amount of water for softening the soap, and an elongated oval plunger of the shape of a sliver of soap insertable into said aperture to drive the soap laterally in all directions to fill the mold, said plunger having a body portion of uniform oval cross section slidably fitting in said aperture to which it is complementary, entrapping the soap in said cavity, and a head on said plunger having an impact surface on its end and a handle portion for grasp in removing the plunger, leaving a cavity in the soap adapted to receive another sliver of soap, impact on the upper impact surface of the plunger with a hammer finally filling the mold with a hollow bar of soap having a longitudinally extending open end cavity, said mold having a plane bottom surface carried by oppositely extending base flanges for suitable support of the mold with its opening upward.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 724,771 Alexa Apr. 7, 1903 804,090 Boeck Nov. 7, 1905 977,025 Makowski Nov. 29, 1910 1,637,708 Porter Aug. 2, 1927 2,621,368 Marshall Dec. 16, 1952 

